by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump left Friday afternoon for Saudi Arabia, where he will be feted with steak and ketchup by the Saudi monarchy and will deliver an address on Islam written by a far right wing notorious hater of Muslims. What could go wrong? Saudi Arabia is a relatively […]
Archives for May 2017
Trump calls Special Counsel a “Witch Hunt”: But what is his relation to Russia?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Now that a Special Counsel (former FBI director Robert Mueller) has been appointed by the deputy head of the Department of Justice, it is time to review exactly what needs investigating. Trump is clearly terrified of the investigation. He immediately called the Mueller appointment harmful to […]
Was Chelsea Manning trying to stop the Endless War? Whistleblowing and Morality
By Peter Van Buren | (Tomdispatch.com) | <p>“My guilt will never go away,” former Marine Matthew Hoh explained to me. “There is a significant portion of me that doesn’t believe it should be allowed to go away, that this pain is fair.”</p> <p>If America accepts the idea of fighting endless wars, it will have to […]
Revival of Iraqi Communism among Youth alarms Shiite Militias
Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | – – Last week’s kidnapping of seven activists in Baghdad could be another sign of increasing tensions between secular parties in Iraq and the country’s ruling religious groups. Is history repeating? Last week, an unidentified armed group kidnapped a number of younger civil society activists from their small apartment in […]
The Iranian Election: It’s the Economy, Stupid!
By Stella Morgana | The Conversation | – – On May 19, Iranians will choose their next president and determine what direction the country will take. The race has become tighter now that Tehran’s conservative mayor Mohammad-Baghar Ghalibaf has withdrawn his candidacy and backed the hardliner cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi is the main competition for […]
Why Watergate is not the Right Analogy for the Trump Constitutional Crisis
By Neal Gabler | (Billmoyers.com) | – – Contrary to the myth, Nixon’s resignation was anything but the inevitable consequence of a powerful constitutional juggernaut. A witness indicates H.R. Haldeman, Nixon’s chief of staff, on a diagram as he testifies before the Senate Watergate Committee during the Watergate hearings. The nationally televised hearings began in […]
GOP not the party of ‘Security’ as Intel Allies Flee Trump
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Globally, US security partners are beginning to rethink sharing sensitive intelligence with the United States. That decisio should worry all Americans, since it puts the US at greater risk of being blindsided. The Republican Party has long claimed to be the party of security, in large […]
Could Comey Memo lead to Impeachment of Trump?
Jon Queally, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org) | – – “Donald Trump wanted to stop the FBI investigation, which is the definition of obstruction of justice,” says Sen. Bernie Sanders. President Donald Trump’s threat also follows differing reports of what occurred during a dinner between him and James Comey just before the FBI director’s firing. […]
Erdogan & Trump: Can the Confict over Syria be Resolved?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Two really big egos met Tuesday at the White House, as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan consulted with Donald Trump. The two countries are deeply divided over Syria policy. Syria is actually several wars at once: Rebels are fighting the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad. An al-Qaeda-linked […]
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